Andros Marilenev
by Jennifer GuerraAndros is the second son of Sebastian Marilenev and his wife Milena Yanov. Milena was pregnant when Sebastian and their son Gyrgory were killed in the Marilenev Rebellion. When Melanie Marilenev "disappeared" soon after, Milena - who suspected that Melanie had indeed been murdered by royal agents - fled the country. Disguised as a peasant woman, she took a Minrothaddan vessel to the Five Shires, then travelled overland to Darokin. Andros (named for Milena's father) was born in Darokin City the following spring.
Milena struggled to support her son on her own, selling everything with which she had fled, and learning to live without the luxuries to which she had been accustomed. Literate in Thyatian and Traladaran, she took a job transcribing purchase orders in a small Darokin City warehouse. When Andros was two, Milena married the owner of the struggling business, Horace Danvers. Danvers raised Andros as his son; the couple had no children of their own.
Andros grew up as any Darokinian child of the lesser merchant class. He was educated by a private tutor, and worked under Horace at the warehouse from adolescence. He had no particular ambition in life, other than a vague dream of adventuring. He knew nothing of his true father, only that his mother was Traladaran, and had been widowed before his birth.
By the time Andros was seventeen, he chafed at the thought of entering the family business. He devoured books on Traladara and its people, searching for his true heritage. Finally, he stood before his shocked parents one evening in a ragged cloak and battered sword: he would undergo the Shearing. Over his stepfather's protests and his mother's hysterical weeping, Andros left.
He adventured in the wild northeast of Darokin for a year, then joined a party of like-minded individuals and travelled all over the Known World. Andros formed a new passion in those years: architecture. He was awed by the beauty of Ylari minarets, the grace of Belcadiz palaces, the majesty of Thyatian fortresses. At twenty, Andros gave up adventuring to apprentice in Rockhome under a master engineer.
An urgent letter from home in 994 cut his training short; Horace was gravely ill. By the time Andros arrived in Darokin, the only father he had ever know was dead. The failing warehouse, and the care of his twice-widowed mother, was his.
Against his mother's wishes, Andros closed the warehouse. She wept bitterly: What was he thinking? And why had he joined the Mason's Guild? But Andros had a dream. Using money he had won in his adventuring career, he converted the small warehouse to an office building. Exercising his charm, wit, and knowledge, he contracted a few clients, and Darokin's newest architectural design firm was born.
The years passed as Andros built his business's reputation and client base into one of the best in the capital city. His greatest achievement, a renovation of the Merchants' Guild Hall, won him a governmental award of recognition. Andros was also quite content in his personal life; he never married, but left a string of broken hearts behind him (one of which was reputed to be none other than the scandalously-younger Ginevra Mauntea).
But soon, Andros' life of contentment was turned upside down.
Milena died in the spring of 1014, of wasting disease. On her deathbed, she finally told Andros that for which he had yearned all these years: his birth name, Marilenev. Andros knew of the Marilenev Rebellion and its bloody aftermath from his readings in Traladaran history. Proud of his father's sacrifice and his mother's bravery, he embraced his birthright. He began using the name Marilenev publicly.
In 1015, a mysterious mage visited Andros. The mage explained that he represented Lady Magda Marilenev of Karameikos; they had, at last, found a surviving member of that family.
Andros travelled to Mirros to meet his "aunt" Magda. There, he learned the true story of the Marilenev Rebellion. He also learned, searching the family archives on his own, that the family had been the royalty of Old Traladara, before the Thyatian invasion.
A series of long conversations with Magda further enlightened Andros to the plight of the Traladaran people - his people. Finally, Andros determined that he would not only claim the title Lord Marilenev, as was his right, but also reclaim the independence of Traladara. In the brief period since, he has gained the support of the major Traladaran families. Their help secured, Andros recently married beautiful, young Ileina Callarii, to divide that elven clan's support for the King. It is an arranged and loveless match, but Andros is still friendly toward the naive elf, who is already pregnant with the couple's first child.
With the popular support of the Traladaran people behind him, Andros has become King Stefan's number-one enemy. Assassination attempts against Andros are growing more common. The King will not strike directly at Andros, though, fearing all-out rebellion.
Appearance: Andros is a Traladaran man of middle age, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He is tall for a Traladaran (5'11"), handsome and dashing, with a quick laugh. His short, wavy hair is perpetually tousled, making him appear younger than he really is. He dresses in fine clothing in the Darokinian style, though he now more often dresses in the style of the Traladaran nobility. Andros is good-natured, chivalrous (and flirtatious), and a little old-fashioned (for a Darokinian), and can often be seen making a deep bow, or kissing a lady's hand.
What He Says: "Ahh, yes, I have had the honour of meeting Lord Ourosco, at his home last month. Such style, such grace!...His manor, I mean."
What Others Say: "The hope of the Traladaran people, wrapped in such a charming package. But we must take care, my love, for often arsenic disguises as sugar." (Gloria Radu, in a private letter to her husband Anton.)
Andros Marilenev (6th level fighter): Thac0 13; #Attacks 3/2; Damage 1d8+3 (longsword +2, Strength bonus); AC 8 (leather, in public) or AC 3 (plate and mail, in combat); hp 48; ML 15; AL LG.
STR 16, DEX 13, CON 15, INT 14, WIS 13, CHA 16.
Languages: Darokinian, Traldaran, Thyatian.
Proficiencies: Blind-fighting; architectural engineering; riding (land); etiquette.